This blog text is a summary of one the three Grennovation Camp keynote presentations. Matti Ala-Outinen from Hawkhill Company, Finland, introduced the actions his family company has taken in efforts to combat the climate change and environmental injustice.
Hawkhill Company’s 9 rental cottages are surrounded by Nuuksio National Park near Helsinki. The company was founded by Matti’s grandparents in the 60’s and today Matti and his siblings are leading the business in the area where they have lived and grown up. Due to decades of family history in the area, sustainability and responsibility are built-in as core values of the company. The current owner’s objective is to preserve the environment as serene and tranquil as it has been in their childhood.
When it comes to fighting the climate change, Matti’s core message is that there is no need to wait for the politicians or the EU to make big decisions. Instead, we can make the change right now. In Hawkhill Company’s case the owners have rewritten their whole business strategy and defined the business as a tool to fight climate injustice and to be forerunners who challenge partners and business competitors for change. The company wants to set an example of an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, yet flourishing, business.
In practice, the actions towards sustainability have included for example, investing in electric cars and charging points in the cottage resort area, the change to nuclear energy and geothermal warming systems, restoring company owned peatlands and investing in the vitality of the nearby village in different ways. So far, the actions towards sustainable and more transparent travel business have proved to be great competition benefits and keys to growth, even in the midst of a global pandemic.
Blog text by,
Henna Kukkonen, Lapland University of Applied Sciences